Russian photographer Fox Grom found a scene that looks like a trick: his Siberian huskies trotting across a frozen lake that reflects the clouds so perfectly the dogs seem to walk on the sky. The photographs were taken around Kirovsk, in Murmansk Oblast, one of Russia's northernmost regions, and they became one of the most shared winter animal series of 2015.
How the frozen lake became a mirror
As Bored Panda explained when the series appeared, the lake was frozen solid, but a thin film of water had formed on top of the ice as it began to thaw. That film is the secret. Bare ice is usually scratched, snowy or cloudy, but a layer of still water fills every irregularity and creates a smooth surface that reflects the sky almost like glass.
The effect needs calm air. Even a light breeze ripples the water and breaks the reflection, which is why the clearest frames show an unbroken horizon and clouds repeated below the dogs' paws.
Kirovsk and the Khibiny Mountains
Kirovsk lies on the Kola Peninsula, north of the Arctic Circle and about 175 km south of Murmansk. The town sits at the foot of the Khibiny Mountains on the shore of Lake Bolshoy Vudyavr. It was founded in 1929, after deposits of apatite and nepheline were found in the Khibiny massif, and became a town in 1931. About 24,000 people live there today.
Kirovsk is also a winter-sports town. Its two ski areas, Bigwood and Kukisvumchorr, offer nearly 50 km of slopes, and the season runs from November to June. Wikipedia describes Kirovsk as the northernmost mountain ski area in Europe.
Siberian huskies, built for the cold
The dogs are right at home here. The Siberian husky was developed by the Chukchi people of the Chukchi Peninsula in eastern Siberia as a sled dog and companion. A thick double coat, with a dense undercoat beneath longer guard hairs, lets the breed tolerate temperatures far below freezing.
- Size: males stand about 20 to 24 inches and weigh 45 to 60 pounds; females weigh 35 to 50 pounds.
- Fame: huskies ran in the 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska, when sled teams relayed diphtheria antitoxin. Togo, led by Leonhard Seppala, covered the longest and most dangerous stretch; Balto ran the final leg.
- Recognition: the American Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1930.
- Temperament: friendly, gentle and energetic, with a famous habit of howling more than barking and escaping from yards.
Photographing reflections on ice and water
A low camera angle makes the reflection fill more of the frame, which is how Grom made his dogs appear to float. Shoot on still days, keep the horizon level and leave space above and below the subject so the mirror image reads clearly. A wider frame turns the dog into a small figure in a huge sky; a closer view puts the attention on posture and expression.
Take these photographs from the shoreline in spring: water over thawing ice signals that the ice is weakening, so keep people and dogs off lakes at that stage unless local ice conditions have been checked.
Related reading
- Clear ice on a lake in Slovakia's High Tatras
- A red fox hunting beneath the snow
- A Car Recovered from an Opening in Lake Ice
- Anton Pankov’s Floating-Ice Camping Film
- Tent-Door Views in the Fann Mountains
- Semyon Bukharin’s Snow Drawings in an Izhevsk Schoolyard
- Winter in Yakutsk: Streets, Transport and Everyday Adaptation
- Hot Water in Extreme Cold: What the Pale Cloud Shows
- Lake Baikal Ice Hummocks: Blue Slabs on Siberia’s Ancient Lake
- Amos Chapple’s Yakutia Photographs: Oymyakon and the Journey Through Cold
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